Re: Martial Arts Experiences Discussion Thread
Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 10:09 am
Kung fu Quest IV: Silat
https://youtu.be/iwNZVzhyX8g
Jim
https://youtu.be/iwNZVzhyX8g
Jim
Naperville wrote: ↑Fri May 05, 2023 12:21 amDepending on what state you live in, you may be able to carry a firearm or edged weapon for self defense. If you are over 50 years of age, I'd acquaint yourself with the rapid deployment and use of these tools under stress.
In the early 1990's after I started attending Iowa State I used Gopher and then web browsers to locate and study different martial arts for a rapidly ageing human, me! I knew that if I were over 60, my punches, kicks and movement during a self defense encounter would be poor and I was looking for some art that an older man could use for self defense.
I found the edged weapon arts of escrima, arnis and kali, each slightly different and offering something to all age groups who studied them. Then in 2000 when in Silicon Valley, I undertook the study of my first edged art. I've since partaken in the study of at least 5+ edged weapon arts and I study to this day, although most of it is by video and DVD.
The following story was posted on a prepper site that I support and the discussions of how to protect church services, but it is a good story for anyone over 50 thinking of self defense.
The Selection of a Church Security Detail, "The Dynamic of Older Church Security Team Members," by R.E.D
https://survivalblog.com/2023/05/02/dyn ... ers-r-e-d/
Definitely there are some men/women who are 70 with backgrounds in combat sports or martial arts that can tune up 90% of the people out there. It's just me. I know that I better not try it. I don't think that I have the stamina to fight for 15 minutes.James Y wrote: ↑Fri May 05, 2023 9:24 amThanks for sharing and posting that article, Naperville.
I agree, as you get older, you need to take every advantage that you can get. I also agree that martial arts training is not practical to train self-defense to older people from scratch. This is something that (apparently most) young people, including many martial arts, combatives, and self-defense instructors, fail to consider.
The trend, especially nowadays, is to say that unless you train in BJJ, Muay Thai, MMA, etc., you cannot defend yourself. Asking an older or elderly person, for whom self-defense is even more critical, to do that is ridiculous. I used to have similar stupid thinking when I was young; I thought if I just continued training for life, I could do everything I could do then, even if I reached 90. Luckily for me, early on I figured out the difference between most martial arts training (styles, sparring, etc.), and real-life self-defense, and I was smart enough (and encouraged) to develop a simple skill set (not based on “style”), intended strictly for SD, that could be applied regardless of age (unless one is completely disabled). Meaning simple and dirty, does not require someone to be in top physical condition (like Muay Thai requires, for example), and are natural and instinctive. A few of which have worked for me IRL in the past. The only key is you have to be ready and WILLING to use them if 100% necessary. If someone isn’t willing and able, then nothing will work for them.
However, I will say that I have known some lifelong martial artists with real fighting experience who could still seriously damage people well into old age. My first Mantis teacher in Taiwan, when in his 70s, was surprisingly fast, accurate, and could still hurt you badly.
Only a few months ago, I visited my sifu in Choy Lee Fut at his home, and at 80, he still has speed, power, agility, and intensity, more so than most 30-somethings I see. Even though he obviously couldn’t compete in a ring match, he honestly didn’t look or move any different than he did in his 50s and early 60s, when was I actively training under him, and he was fast for his age then. He also had surgery to remove a brain tumor sometime prior to 2010, and had cancer surgery in 2021 (ironically, on the exact same day I had my last hernia surgery).
Supposedly, when Jack Dempsey was in his 70s, he KO’d two young muggers outside of his restaurant in NYC. Don’t count all old guys out.
These are some of the reasons why I still include things like Kung Fu forms practice (to a degree) in my training. Things that most martial arts and combat sports enthusiasts deem as worthless. But using forms as an example, they maintain your balance, coordination, train your mental discipline, and your body to move naturally in ways that are unnatural for the average person. There is something to be said for being able to move in ways most people can’t as one gets older. IMO, such physical and mental qualities are essential for daily living in itself, if one has been doing them since they were young. Of course, teaching an older person from scratch most likely wouldn’t help them much at all in that respect, unless maybe they’re taught a gentle form of Tai Chi or Qigong, which may help their coordination and balance, and lessen their chances of falls.
I carry a 51” straight, rustic walking stick made of hickory. I also know how to use it. I trained in staff fighting and sparring for years. In application, I never twirl it like a baton, or swing it around in a big arc like a baseball bat, like I’ve seen in many YouTube videos that show self-defense with a walking stick or a cane; which require too much room and probably wouldn’t have much effect against an attacker; and which also makes the cane or walking stick easier to block, grab, and possibly take away. The stick method I use, which I modified and simplified from southern-style staff fighting, can be done even in a confined area, like a narrow hallway, or in close quarters. I mainly use it single-ended, striking with the hard handle end, not the end with the rubber ferrule, except in rare instances. Used correctly, it’s almost too easy to apply, and is very difficult to deal with, much less be disarmed. It also covers a gray area between non-lethal and potentially lethal force.
I know that many people carry a cane out of necessity, but I do not. I prefer a walking stick. IMO, a cane gives the impression of frailty of the person carrying it, compared to a walking stick. I also prefer a straight stick, without a hooked end. Walking sticks also have more reach than canes. I don’t actually need a walking stick as a walking aid, and I don’t go around faking a limp. I simply carry it in my hand. I’ve passed cop cars with it, and the cops never even gave me or my stick a second look.
I distrust pepper spray, after a canister of Sabre Red failed me one day (before I started carrying a stick) when an aggressive dog came at me bearing its teeth, but luckily stopped short. The firing mechanism had literally frozen and wouldn’t fire. Also, there are instances during violent encounters where people are immune to pain, such as that caused by pepper spray, joint locks, etc. So my SD methods focus on mechanical damage, and not so much on inflicting pain, to stop at attack.
Jim
I'd like to build an outdoor gym here like that but my neighbors would go nutz! I'll bookmark that video and if I get the hankerin maybe I'll do it. Tires are excellent for escrima training but this guy reveals that a lot more can be done with homemade equipment.James Y wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 1:36 am"This Dude's Kick is Crazy"
I'm posting this because I really like his own shoestring budget training setup. I like how he doesn't always require the latest-greatest hi-tech gym for his own self-training. I love creative setups like this.
https://youtu.be/EI0ygcc9Mhw
Jim
If I saw this guy rip off his shirt and do that in public I would laugh (mostly WITH him). If he ripped his shirt off in anger towards me and began his acrobatics, I would run like a scalded dogJames Y wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 12:56 amPeople Couldn't Believe He Could Do This
Believe it ot not, I've actually seen quite a few people who were very overweight like this guy, who could move quickly, do very good low postures, full splits, high kicks, and acrobatic flips. It's not as if he just took up training to lose weight. It's obvious that he's been training for decades, since he was a young child. And it's possible that he was never really lean to begin with, but just gained more weight over the years. Some people are natural endomorphs.
Some YouTube commenters said, "Just imagine if he were in shape." When I'll bet that none of them, in whatever shape they're in now, can move as well as he can.
Contrary to what the narrator says at the beginning, the Kung Fu he's doing (which actually looks like a type of performance Wushu mixed with gymnastics), and the ability to move like that, is NOT accessible to everyone. It requires a higher-than-average degree of coordination and natural athleticism, that the average person just doesn't have. If some long-time, overweight couch potato thinks they can one day decide to take up "Kung Fu" and move anything like he does, they are sadly mistaken.
Can he actually fight? Maybe. Maybe not. But like I always say, "Never Underestimate Anyone." Based on his ability to move in and of itself, he already defies people's expectations of how a person with that type of build should be able to move.
https://youtu.be/KFFJrQrxVps
Jim
twinboysdad wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2023 11:31 amIf I saw this guy rip off his shirt and do that in public I would laugh (mostly WITH him). If he ripped his shirt off in anger towards me and began his acrobatics, I would run like a scalded dogJames Y wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 12:56 amPeople Couldn't Believe He Could Do This
Believe it ot not, I've actually seen quite a few people who were very overweight like this guy, who could move quickly, do very good low postures, full splits, high kicks, and acrobatic flips. It's not as if he just took up training to lose weight. It's obvious that he's been training for decades, since he was a young child. And it's possible that he was never really lean to begin with, but just gained more weight over the years. Some people are natural endomorphs.
Some YouTube commenters said, "Just imagine if he were in shape." When I'll bet that none of them, in whatever shape they're in now, can move as well as he can.
Contrary to what the narrator says at the beginning, the Kung Fu he's doing (which actually looks like a type of performance Wushu mixed with gymnastics), and the ability to move like that, is NOT accessible to everyone. It requires a higher-than-average degree of coordination and natural athleticism, that the average person just doesn't have. If some long-time, overweight couch potato thinks they can one day decide to take up "Kung Fu" and move anything like he does, they are sadly mistaken.
Can he actually fight? Maybe. Maybe not. But like I always say, "Never Underestimate Anyone." Based on his ability to move in and of itself, he already defies people's expectations of how a person with that type of build should be able to move.
https://youtu.be/KFFJrQrxVps
Jim
vivi wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 8:46 amIf you don't know, ONE FC has free cards every friday morning. They put on awesome fights. Mostly muay thai, some MMA. Highly recommended if you prefer the striking in MMA to the grappling side. Really good production values, good pacing and basically no ads. Can't beat it. Prefer it to the UFC these days.
There's a girls fight coming on now, then it's the co-main and main event.
ONE FC is also putting on a second card later tonight.
twinboysdad wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 12:03 pmI have mentioned before one of my sons wrestling, in fact he’s been year round (high school and club) going on 4 years. His brother has decided to try BJJ and in taking him I have been able to watch the judo class that coincides with the beginner BJJ. I did judo 19 years or so ago and there is no way at 49 I would consider this now. First off there are 8-10 dudes over 200 lbs and at least 2 are 6’4. There are a few who are at least my age if not older but they are tree trunks and I am a lanky bamboo LOL. All this to say a standing grapple with large boned oafs is not something I am game for anymore. The BJJ I could easily handle but I am really enjoying lifting and running and that alone still gives me aches and pains.